Raymond Almazan suffers meniscal tear in left knee

Bad news has struck Meralco, as Raymond Almazan sustained a lateral meniscal tear in his left knee, Bolts team manager Paolo Trillo said in a text message on Tuesday morning.

Almazan got hurt six minutes into Game Three of their 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals clash versus Ginebra last Sunday after landing on LA Tenorio as he went up for a lay-up off a drive.

The 6-foot-8 big man found it hard to stand up and had to be carried onto the team’s locker room. The six-year pro out of Letran was then ruled out of the match during the halftime break.

With Almazan out, the Bolts absorbed an 82-94 defeat, sending them to a 1-2 deficit in the best-of-seven series.

Trillo, though, said that they will still talk to Almazan and assess whether he can play in Game Four on Wednesday — a crucial game for Meralco, since another loss would put them in a tough spot.

Almazan s in his first Finals appearance since 2016 when he was still with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. He averaged 17.5 points and 11.0 in the first two games in the series.